Malda SIR Protest: The issue of hostage taking of SIR officers in Malda, West Bengal is now gaining momentum. After the strictness of the Supreme Court, the Election Commission of India has handed over the investigation of this case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Election Commission Secretary Sujit Kumar Mishra has written a letter to the Director General of NIA requesting that a detailed investigation be conducted into the Malda incident and a preliminary report be submitted as per the directions of the Supreme Court.
Malda case handed over to NIA
According to the Election Commission, the NIA team may visit the spot on Friday and start investigating the case. It is noteworthy that the Supreme Court had taken seriously the incident of SIR officers being held hostage for about 9 hours during the protest in Malda, after which it has been decided to involve the investigating agency in this entire matter.
On the other hand, the police have arrested at least 17 people, including an election candidate, for their alleged involvement in the siege of seven judicial officers in this case. According to the police, Maulana Shahjahan Ali, who is the Indian Secular Front (ISF) candidate, was arrested along with 16 others and produced in the district court, from where he was sent to 10-day police custody.
Police is making arrests
The officer said that all these accused were involved in the incident that took place on Wednesday at Kaliachak II block office of Mothabari assembly constituency of Malda. During this time, the protesters had surrounded seven judicial officers engaged in work related to voter list for about seven and a half hours, in which three women officers were also included.
However, Maulana Shahjahan Ali rejected the allegations against him and said that he was being falsely implicated because of his political affiliation. He claimed that he was not present at the spot at the time of the incident and was arrested while returning from a religious function. Police have said that investigation into the case is ongoing and more arrests may be made.
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